Dr. Fűköh Levente szerk.: Malakológiai Tájékoztató 15. (Eger, 1986.)

DOMOKOS, T.: In memoriam KOVÁCS GYULA (1932-1996)

In Memóriám Dr. Gyula Kovács The death of Gyula Kovács, malacologist and teacher, was the most depressing news of the summer for all his former colleagues, freinds, students and acquaintances. On July 22nd, 1996 a heart-attack put an end to a life that permanently was burning with activity like in a fever. Dr. Gyula Kovács was born in the year 1932, the same year as Dr. Andor Richnovszky, who died one year earlier, in a family of cleark in Békéscsaba. His mother was Rozália Lastofka, and his father was Gyula Kovács, both worked in the István milling factory in Békéscsaba till they were dismissed during the great economic crisis. Since they had list jobs, his mother took household in hand, his father found work here and there book-keeping to make ends meet. His father being very ambicious soon started university studies at Szeged University of Arts and Sciences, and by the time little Gyula was eight years old, he already held his diploma as lawyer in hand. Young Gyula Kovács finished his schools in Békéscsaba, his native town. When at secondary school he joint the youth movement actively, and among his mates he showed outstanding results in the subjects of biology and chemistry. Because of his parents descent they could not even think of sending their then freshly matured son - as he would have liked to - to become a doctor. Therefore Gyula Kovács finishzes hlis studies as a scholar of Szeged University of Arts and Sciences, at the Faculty of Sciences, and becomes a teacher of biology and chemistry in 1955. After his graduation the Ministry places him at the Csokonai Vitéz Mihály Secondary School at Csurgó, where he spends three years teaching biology and chemistry, and at the same time he carries out research work in the field of malacology in thesurrounding of Csurgó. In 1958 he gets back to Békéscsaba as a tutor at the then Road-, Bridge- and Water-Building Vocational Technical School (today: Pál Vásárhelyi Vocational Technical School). Beside his work as tutor he also works as independent expert secretary of the Society for the Popularization of Scientific Knowledge (T.I.T.). In 1960 he hands in his dissertation entitled "The Mollusc-Faun of Somogy-Csurgó and surrounding" and gets his doctor-title. His desire towards his profession, and his heart, too, draw him back to Transdanubia. At that time he also thinks of settling at Nagykanizsa. In spite of this he only spends the schoolyear 1961/62 in Nagykanizsa, at the then Jenő Landler Ordinary Secondary School, as after the death of his father in 1962 his mother stayed alone - and a vacancy at the Slovak Language Teaching Secondary School makes him come home. In Nagykanizsa the scientist Árpád Károlyi - Who against his being a chemical-petrol engineer, was engaged with botanies and malacology - who was a quarter of a century older than Gyula Kovács, was of great influence on him. His superintendents very soon were impressed by his outstnding work as a teacher. His work as form-master was exemplary, his students loved him fanatically, and they just called him DRÖKI among each other. From 1967 he works as semi-independent supervisor for biology, then from 1974 till retirement as supervisor for chemistry with great diplomatic talent. In January 1968 he becomes - according to his own wish - teacher at György Sebes Vocational School for Economy and Trade (now: István Széchényi Vocational School for Economy and Foreign Trade). At this school he teaches fpr 24 years, until his retirement in 1992.